DAILY MANIFESTO

Retro Revolution: Manual Inspection

Posted on Monday, November 28 @ 14:14:11 Eastern by KevinS

Are you like me? As a kid, did you ever open up the game your parents just bought you in the car and proceed to read every word of the manual to pump yourself up? Are you the type that knows the interesting backstories of characters that weren't entirely fleshed out in their respective games, like the Three Dirty Dwarves and Birdo?

What brings this up is, oddly enough, the closing of the old GR office. In the rubble of what was being given away and liquified, a plastic bag sat in front of the bookshelf near the front door. I was the only person in the office giddy at the sight of the stacks and stacks of old instruction manuals held inside. And not only were they old manuals, they were primarily Sega CD and Saturn manuals! Some of them were for games I've not even heard of! In an office filled with debug games and unusual swag, I get most excited about leaving with a handful of manuals? Yes. Yes I do.

It's honestly a shame in my eyes that the manual has gone the way of the Dodo. Maybe it's the way I play my games, maybe it's just personal nostalgia, but there's something magical about having that touch of backstory and information that brought games to life in an era that had more trouble telling intricate stories. The manual used to carry the character bios, which was always fun to look over, and different world the player would be traveling around to. With certain games there was even more than just playing instructions, power-up info and basic play information; games like Might & Magic for the Genesis and Earthbound for SNES even came with full-color strategy guides so you couldn't miss a moment of the game!

What happened then? Put bluntly, evolution; when the disc and drive space became available there was no need to print out manuals. Instead, the play instructions and backstory were installed with the game, so while playing they can be accessed at any time. The prevailing argument for this seems to be that not only does it cut down on printing costs, but it's better for the environment. I understand it, but I still feel a sense of loss.

There are still manuals out there, but it drives me crazy when I flip through and realize it's only looks bigger because a few pages have been translated into multiple languages. It's not that I'm angry about the language business, but that I'm given false hope that there's something more within than just how to turn a system on and get through the title screen.

I know there are a few games that come with detailed info in a few pages, but I've come to accept that there won't be any more interesting gems to be hidden in manuals (like Birdo's "coming out" blurb). I still open up my games in the car sometimes—when I'm not driving, of course—and seeing if anything's worth reading there. It might not even be simple nostalgia at this point… just habit. A child-like, glorious habit. Don't you?

Tags: Retro Revolution

Comments

Lien
Joined: Feb 2008

Posted: Nov 28th, 2011 at 2:32 pm
One of my favorite manuals where from the police quest franchise. It give a great big detail on how the police force had to act on duty and even the password to enter the game where police trivia. Those where the day...

And does anyone else remember the monkey island and Indiana Jones spinning toy that came with the manual? (Dial-A-Pirate and the stone disk i think they were called) That was the ultimate way to fight piracy i tell ya.

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cyberjim2000
Joined: Feb 2010

Posted: Nov 29th, 2011 at 12:31 am
I remembered the Police Quest manual. They taught you what those 10-#s mean and how to take someone on with a PR-24.

Nowadays. it's all unskippable tutorials.

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hopiamani
Joined: Oct 2011

Posted: Nov 28th, 2011 at 2:50 pm
My favorite manual was the one in Warcraft 2.... Actually, that was the only manual I had because when I was young I lived in a country where piracy was the norm. And pirated discs did not come with manuals.

Anyway I had the Warcraft 2 manual because my dad miraculously agreed the buy the game on a trip to New York. I was ecstatic: I must have read the manual 10 times on the flight back home.

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drathbone
Joined: May 2011

Posted: Nov 28th, 2011 at 4:24 pm
Oh man Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy? My 2 first RPG's (unless you count Zelda?) that are probably the sole reason I'm a gamer to this day. Unfortunately both series have gone in self destructive directions (my opinion).

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Josh_Laddin
Joined: Nov 2009

Posted: Nov 28th, 2011 at 4:42 pm
I loved my Chrono Trigger manual. It was the beefiest one around for its time, and they packed it full of descriptions of every single dual and triple tech, aside from the hidden ones. I was crushed when I lost it a few years later; then I was elated when I found it again!

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wildmario
Joined: Jan 2007

Posted: Nov 28th, 2011 at 6:13 pm
I think as time went on, more people felt they were more than a "man" enough to play without reading manuals and then cried when they got stuck or sucked, so I guess developers buckled and put in forced tutorials so no one can feel dumb playing.

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thewhiteark
Joined: Oct 2011

Posted: Nov 29th, 2011 at 1:47 am
SC1 manual! an aweasomeness of descriptions for *every* faction, hero, unit, and every special ability! Stim packs have a myriad of side effects that as a kid I had memorized.

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dirty_f
Joined: Nov 2010

Posted: Nov 29th, 2011 at 4:56 am
i was thinking the exact same thing with the last 2 games i got. first, Arkham City, which my girlfriend gave me when i was at her place. obviously leaving to go home n play straight away woulda landed me in a whole world of ****. so i wanted to look thru the manual n check out some gadgets, foes, a bit of story. nada.
same with BF3. waiting for it to install...looked thru about 2 pages of publication rights or whatever the **** it is they put there. boring.
the best manuals were ones for oc games like Doom, Quake and Heretic etc. discribing all the weapons and discriptions + pics of all the monsters.

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dirty_f
Joined: Nov 2010

Posted: Nov 29th, 2011 at 4:56 am
*pc/dos games

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usaglory
Joined: Mar 2009

Posted: Nov 30th, 2011 at 9:04 am
I am glad I'm not alone. I love reading the manuals. The best manuals were the ones for NES and SNES since those often included the game's story along with colorful drawings and whatnot. I have to agree that nowadays they seem like an unnecessary waste of paper, but that's partly because they make 'em so lame.

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